This invention relates to rescue devices and, more particularly, to light weight stowable rescue devices for manually transporting incapacitated patients across inclined and flat terrain.
Countless individuals work or live in buildings having many floors, and during various emergency situations, such as fires or electrical failures, the elevators are unavailable for use. Thus, the only way to exit the buildings in these situations is to traverse the stairs. However, for the elderly, disabled, and injured, traversing even a single flight of stairs, much less fifteen or twenty flights, is not a realistic option. Therefore, it is necessary for such incapacitated individuals to have assistance in safely exiting the buildings.
Various devices have been developed to help incapacitated individuals exit buildings. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,253,885 to McCraken et al. which is hereby fully incorporated herein by reference. The ""885 device gives a strong able bodied individual the ability to safely lower an incapacitated individual down many flights of stairs while safely and securely standing at the tops of each flight of stairs. Clearly, the able bodied individual must be strong enough to lower the combined weight of the device and its passenger in a controlled fashion. Thus, the weight of the device is significant. The ""885 device weighs approximately fifty pounds, and this high weight restricts the use of the ""885 device to strong individuals especially when there are many flights of stairs to be traversed.
After the stairs have been traversed, it is frequently necessary to move the incapacitated individual some distance on a substantially horizontal surface in order to reach safety. Without the help of gravity to move the ""885 device and its passenger, pulling the ""885 device becomes a difficult task. Further, the ""885 device includes many separate parts making it expensive to manufacture.
Thus, reduction in the weight of rescue devices is desirable to enhance the rescue capabilities of the devices allowing a greater number of individuals to utilize the devices. It is also desirable to enhance the movement of rescue devices across substantially horizontal surfaces to increase the usefulness of rescue devices. Further, it is desirable to produce a rescue device with fewer separate parts to reduce manufacturing cost.
There is, therefore, provided in the practice of the invention a novel rescue device, which is light weight and movable across substantially horizontal surfaces, for transporting incapacitated individuals. The rescue device includes a sled body with a plurality of reinforcing corrugations. A back support member is attached to the sled body, and a lowering strap is attached to one of either of the sled body or the back support member. At least one safety belt is provided to hold the individual being transported.
In a preferred embodiment, the reinforcing corrugations include bottom reinforcing corrugations, foot end reinforcing corrugations, back end reinforcing corrugations, and sidewall reinforcing corrugations formed in the respective components of the sled body. A top perimeter edge of the sled body includes a U-shaped reinforcing lip to further strengthen the sled body. The front and rear corners of the sled body are beveled, and the back support member is preferably hingably attached to the sled body. The back support member includes a lower panel engaging a back support member engaging surface of the sled body. The back support member also includes an upper panel inclined relative to the lower panel and opposed side panels attached to and incline relative to the upper panel.
The sled body also preferably includes a plurality of integral raised hand holds formed in the perimeter edge of the sled body. Cylindrical reinforcing members are received in the hand holds, and handle openings extend through the side walls adjacent to the hand holds. Preferably, the handle openings are sized to receive a gloved hand. Integral hand rests are also formed in the perimeter edge of the sled body, and integral foot rests are formed in the bottom of the sled body.
A latching mechanism preferably includes an elastomeric latch centrally connected to the sled body and a catch centrally connected to the back support member. A plurality of rollers are preferably attached to the sled body to transport the rescue device across substantially horizontal terrain. The rollers extend only a small distance beyond the bottom extremity of the sled body, so that the sled body can smoothly traverse the stairs.
There is further provided in the practice of the invention the novel rescue device in combination with a hanging apparatus which includes a wall component for mounting on a wall and opposed hanging arms attached to the wall component. The hanging arms extend through the handle openings of the sled body, and a pair of elongated hanging tabs are attached to the outer ends of the hanging arms to hold the rescue device on the hanging apparatus.
In a preferred embodiment, the hanging arms extend away from the wall component at angles, so that the outer ends of the hanging arms are spaced away from the wall. Preferably, the wall component, hanging arm, and hanging tabs are integrally formed.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved rescue device for transporting incapacitated individuals across inclined and substantially horizontal terrain.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved hanging apparatus in combination with a rescue device for storing the rescue device in convenient locations.